During this foreign rule, Chinese culture did not suffer as much as it could have, due to the maintainance of the Chinese way of life by the Mongols. Buddhism in particular prospered during this era as the Mongols had more or less adopted it in a relaxed form.

The Yuan dynasty represents a very important time for the development of Buddhism, with support coming from the Mongols; the development of Ch’an Buddhism; and courtly, academic, officially supported communication with other popular religions at the time.